Friday, March 10, 2017

Fwd: Early Spring Rain.



Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: Stewart Acuff <acuff.stewart@gmail.com>
Date: March 10, 2017 at 12:33:11 PM EST
To: Stewart <acuff.stewart@gmail.com>
Subject: Fwd: Early Spring Rain.



Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: Stewart Acuff <acuff.stewart@gmail.com>
Date: March 10, 2017 at 12:32:02 PM EST
To: Stewart <sacuff@1199cnuhhce.org>
Subject: Early Spring Rain.

The cold early spring rain and snow danced in the air

On the way to the ground

Snow and rain playin in her hair

A little raw but I was caught in her gravity pulled where

I wanted to go but no okay yet , today so I follow the sound

For those places much less compelling than her being

And wail inside invisible to her hidden away some day to be found
Sent from my iPhone

A Foreword to Kari Polanyi Levitt [feedly]

A Foreword to Kari Polanyi Levitt
http://rodrik.typepad.com/dani_rodriks_weblog/2017/03/a-foreword-to-kari-polanyi-levitt.html

I was recently asked to write a foreword to the Mexican edition of Kari Polanyi Levitt's From the Great Transformation to the Great Financialization. Kari is Karl Polanyi's daughter, and the essays in her book -- part memoir, part intellectual history, part analysis of the global economy -- provide a wonderful Polanyi-esque perspective on our day. I happily accepted, and my Foreword is below.

****

I first encountered Karl Polanyi as an undergraduate, in a course on comparative politics. "The Great Transformation" was on the course syllabus, sitting somewhat awkwardly amidst more standard political science fare. The assigned reading, on the Speenhamland system and the reform of the Poor Laws in Britain made little impression on me at first. But over the years, I found myself coming back to the central arguments of the book: the embeddedness of a market economy in a broader set of social arrangements, the rejection of an autonomous economic sphere, the folly of treating markets as self-stabilizing.

I am lucky that I had been exposed to Polanyi before I became a full-fledged economist. Looking at standard neoclassical fare from the perspective of the Great Transformation kept me alert to the hidden assumptions of economic theory. Behind those market transactions, expressed with mathematical formalism and in Greek letters, was a host of social, political, legal institutions that enabled those transactions. And these institutions were not unique: they had taken diverse form in different societies and historical periods.

Curiously, the more I became an economist, the more Polanyi's insights resonated. In my own writings on economic development and globalization, I felt often that I was simply restating the main themes of the Great Transformation for our current era.

I still have on my bookshelf the heavily annotated copy of The Great Transformation from my undergraduate days – along with a newer edition with a foreword from Joe Stiglitz. The old copy has since been enriched by a nice note and signature from Kari Polanyi Levitt which I managed to obtain during a visit to McGill University in February 2001. So it gives me great pleasure to return the favor by writing a few words about Kari Polanyi Levitt's impressive book, From the Great Transformation to the Great Financialization.

Perhaps no-one has greater claim to the mantle of keeping Karl Polanyi's thought vibrant and relevant to our current problems than Kari Polanyi Levitt herself. In this beautifully written collection of essays, she not only draws a vivid portrait of her father as a man, a scholar, and an activist, but also provides some extraordinarily prescient analysis of how the world economy got to where it is today. Levitt's memories of her father are particularly touching. In addition, the essays range widely over economic history, the history of economic thought, the international economic system, and economic development. They are all informed by the same combination of sharp insight and social conscience that made Karl Polanyi's work stand out. Levitt brings a rich historical texture to the analysis of contemporary problems of the global economy and the challenges of economic development. The spirit of Polanyi lurks always, not too far from the surface.

Levitt aptly uses the term "The Great Financialization" to describe the regime that took over after the Keynesian order inscribed in the Bretton Woods arrangements collapsed. I do not know if Keynes ever read The Great Transformation or was familiar with Karl Polanyi's thought. But the Bretton Woods arrangements were very much Polanyian in spirit. As Levitt underscores in chap 5, Polanyi was like Keynes in many respects, but unlike Keynes, he questioned the role of economic motives in driving human behavior, which he thought was unique to industrial capitalism.

Keynes sought an international regime that would be hospitable to international trade among nations, but not so intrusive that it would undercut economic management domestically. One key requirement of such a regime was that international finance would be kept in check. Keynes made clear that controls on international capital flows were not meant to be simply a temporary expedient, to be removed once global financial stability was achieved. They were a permanent feature of the system – essential to macroeconomic management at home, and eventually, to the building of mixed economies with adequate social protection.

As Levitt nicely explains, after the 1980s this understanding was superseded by a new one that once again raised the market – and financial markets in particular – above the needs of society. Europe, America, and eventually most middle-income developing nations embraced financial globalization. Free flows of finance across borders, they were led to believe, would allocate savings and investment where they could be used most profitably. Domestic economic management became hostage to the whims of financial markets. Globalization became an end rather than a means.

This wasn't quite the Gold Standard that Karl Polanyi had held responsible for the political upheavals of the early part of the 20th century. Polanyi thought that the attempt to reimpose the 19th century liberal economic order after World War I produced the world economic crisis and had led to the demise of democracy in Europe. Currencies were now flexible, except for the European nations that would eventually adopt a single currency. Nevertheless, financial globalization entailed donning the Golden Straitjacket, in Thomas Friedman's evocative phrase.

Many of these essays were written years ago, yet Levitt is prophetic in portraying the hubris and triumphalism of neoliberalism's advocates and the risks that their experiments took. As she writes, "the attempt to impose on the rest of the world a radical Anglo-American vision of the autonomy of market forces, backed by sanctions to subordinate nations, peoples and communities to the rights of property, is a Utopian project which threatens to unleash uncontrollable reactionary political forces" (p. 52). It is "incompatible with democratic governance, cultural diversity and pluralism" (52).

As I write these words, Donald J. Trump is one month into his presidency. The reactionary backlash that Levitt foresaw, the second part of Polanyi's double movement, is in full force not only in the United States but in a large number of European nations as well. In Levitt's words, "market forces of polarization will disembed the economy from traditional social relations and people will seek solidarities of community, ethnicity, religious belief or other solidarities of the excluded" (p. 105). Or as she puts it elsewhere: "democracy is striking back at economics" (p. 60).

We ignore Karl Polanyi at our own peril. And there is no better, richer account of why and how than this wonderful collection of essays.


 -- via my feedly newsfeed

Food Assistance Cutoff Needlessly Harms Vulnerable West Virginians and Economy [feedly]

Food Assistance Cutoff Needlessly Harms Vulnerable West Virginians and Economy
http://www.wvpolicy.org/food-assistance-cutoff-needlessly-harms-vulnerable-west-virginians-and-economy/

Yesterday, the House Health Committee passed out HB 2132 that imposes a statewide three-month time limit for SNAP food assistance for childless adults that are working fewer than 20 hours per week. This bill mirrors a similar provision found in SB 60 and HB 2741that was discussed previously in this blog.

If enacted, these bills would bar the state from applying for a federal waiver to temporarily suspend the federal requirement that limits SNAP to three months out of every three years for childless, non-disabled adults unless they are working at least 80 hours per month, participating in a qualified job training program, or in workfare. States are allowed to apply for the waiver to suspend the time limit in areas of sustained high unemployment. While West Virginia used the waiver to suspend the time limit statewide in years past, Governor Tomblin ended the waiver in nine counties beginning January 1, 2016 that had low unemployment. These bills would suspend the waiver statewide indefinitely regardless of whether there is high unemployment or a major crisis such as a flood or natural disaster.

Though work requirements may sound good – especially in a state with historically low workforce participation – denying food assistance to unemployed and part-time workers will do little to encourage employment. It will, however, increase food insecurity for thousands of West Virginians, drain millions of federal dollars from our economy, and put additional strain on our food pantries, soup kitchens, and charities that are already stretched thin.

SNAP Time Limits Put the Poorest and Most Vulnerable at Risk

The population subject to the three-month time limit are childless adults who are unemployed or working below 20 hours a week. These individuals are extremely poor, most only have a high school degree, and many are veterans, homeless people, noncustodial parents, and people with a mental and physical limitation. Most childless adults on SNAP are also strongly tied to the workforce. According to a recent report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:

  • Childless adults participating in SNAP have an average income of 29 percent of the poverty line or $3,400, while 46 percent live in households with no incomes and three quarters live in a household with income below have the poverty line. 
  • Over a quarter (28 percent) of childless adults on SNAP have less than a high school education, and more than half  (57 percent) have only a high school diploma or GED. Approximately 15 percent have some college education or a college degree.
  • Approximately 75 percent of SNAP households with a childless, working-age adult worked in the year before or after receiving SNAP while many of those not working while receiving SNAP were actively looking for work.

In 2015, the Ohio Association of Foodbanks released a report that assessed about 5,000 childless adults on SNAP who were referred to a work experience program in Franklin County, Ohio. The report found that many low-income childless adults face multiple challenges to employment, including little access to transportation, criminal records, mental and physical limitations, frequent job dismissals, no drivers license, and homelessness.

Because many childless adults on SNAP have these barriers to employment and independence, there are limited job or volunteer opportunities that match their abilities.

Expansion of SNAP Time Limit To Struggling Counties Make No Sense

While most of the nation has recovered from the Great Recession, West Virginia has not. Most counties are still struggling with very high unemployment. Enacting a time limit to food assistance in areas of high unemployment and a lack of job opportunities when a temporary waiver of the time limit is available makes no sense. As discussed earlier, West Virginia has already ended the waiver in nine counties in West Virginia that had relatively low unemployment and higher population density (i.e. access to more jobs) and expanding it to distressed areas of the state will only makes things worse for low-income adults. Many of these areas have been hit particularly hard by the recent decline in coal production, such as Mingo County that has an unemployment rate of almost 10 percent.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHR), there are 7,310 non-exempt childless adults  on SNAP in the other 46 counties in West Virginia that would be cut off of food assistance if the state is forced to implement a three month limit. DHHR has already cut 5,417 people off of SNAP in the nine pilot counties where the federal work requirement restriction was put into place since January 1, 2016.

Though it is unknown how many childless adults on SNAP found employment after being cut off, DHHR found that the program has not "had a significant impact on employment figures for the ABAWD [able-bodied adults without dependents] population in the nine issuance-limited counties" and that they have not seen a "clear increase in the number of ABAWDs maintaining benefits sue to meeting the work requirements." In fact, of the 13,984 state-wide referrals made to the SNAP Employment & Training Program in 2016, only 259 gained employment. Most likely, this means most people lost food assistance because they had barriers (see above) to meeting the work requirement.

Experience in Kansas Show Time Limit Did Little to Encourage Work

While some proponents of imposing a three month time limit on SNAP highlight that it has been effective in raising employment, a careful analysis of the evidence suggests that imposing the time limit had little effect on work but did cause thousands of poor residents in Kansas to lose food assistance. The chart below looks at the number of childless non-disabled adults in SNAP before Kansas imposed its three-month time limit (Quarter 3, 2013) and a year after it was imposed (Quarter 1, 2015). Over 20,000 people stopped participating in SNAP after the Kansas benefit cutoff. The number of non-disabled childless adults on SNAP that were working also declined, from about 6,200 to 3,570. Though some have touted this as a success since the share of people working increased (from 21 percent to 42 percent), it really just reflects the number of caseload changes, not improved circumstances.

The much larger and important question is what happened to those that were cutoff of SNAP in Kansas. While we don't know about what happened in Kansas, research in other states have found that most remain poor and that many do not find work and struggle with various other problems, including a lack of health insurance, adequate housing, and trouble paying monthly bills.

Cutting Off Food Assistance Hurts Our State's Fragile Economy

The loss of federal dollars from SNAP flowing into the state is significant. According to DHHR, the average monthly SNAP benefit is $203.20. This means the state lost approximately $15 million in federal SNAP benefits that would other wise be in the state's economy in 2016. If the state is forced to impose the time limit on the other 46 counties, this would amount to $17.8 million in lost federal money for the state. This does not take into account that SNAP has a high economic multiplier, which will lower economic growth. For every $1 in new SNAP benefits, it results in an estimated $1.80 in total economic activity.  Imposing the time limit would also strain local nonprofits and private charities who will have to serve this population with food assistance and other supportive services.

Another major concern about the existing three month time limit in the nine pilot counties, and expanding to the other 46 counties, is that capacity of DHHR to work in rural areas to connect these individuals to jobs and training. As discussed above, this population faces several barriers to employment or volunteer work because of a lack of transportation and other challenges that are more acute in rural counties. DHHR estimates that it would cost over  $2 million  to extend the SNAP E&T program to these other counties, draining the state of resources when it faces a $500 million budget shortfall this year.

Instead of cutting thousands of more low-income people from food assistance by permanently tying the Governor's hands from providing food assistance in areas that are struggling with job opportunities, the legislature should be explsoring non-punitive ways to help connect more people to jobs and to ensure our most vulnerable residents have accesss to the services they need to achieve self-sufficiency.


 -- via my feedly newsfeed

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Hillary knew of Saudi support of ISIS

Hillary’s leaked emails reveal her knowledge of Saudi support of ISIS.

Hillary Clinton secretly emailed in 2014: “We need to use our diplomatic and more traditional intelligence assets to bring pressure on the governments of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which are providing clandestine financial and logistic support to ISIL and other radical Sunni groups in the region.”

 

https://28pages.org/2016/10/12/clinton-email-may-help-preserve-power-to-sue-saudis-for-911/

 

Her failure to accuse the Saudi government publicly has allowed U.S. weapons to continue to flow to Saudi Arabia and to ISIS. If the public knew what she knew, there would have been a deafening outcry to cut off all arms to the Saudis, if not imposing a total embargo. While the public is told the U.S. is fighting ISIS, in reality the U.S. has been supporting ISIS through its support of Saudi Arabia.

 

The intel Deep State, Democratic leadership and corporate media are deflecting attention from the damaging content of Hillary’s leaked emails by blaming Russian hacking with no evidence. But If the Russians did hack Clinton’s emails, revealing her duplicity, the Russians did the American people a favor by showing that the entire War on Terror is a gigantic bipartisan fraud by capitalist ruling circles to invade oil countries under false pretenses. If her emails were not hacked, then they were leaked by patriots who realized the America people are being hoodwinked into disastrous wars.

 

This revelation is more important than the Trump disaster. It shows our problems go way beyond the contested issues being debated on TV. It shows that both capitalist parties, think tanks, academia, corporate mass media, Congress and presidents, past and present, have been wrong about the War on Terror. The U.S. has been supporting terror through its support of Saudi Arabia. This has been going on for 15 years, costing trillions in treasure, creating millions of refugees and enemies, with no end in sight.

 

As former Senator Bob Graham tells it: “I believe that the failure to shine a full light on Saudi actions and particularly its involvement in 9/11 has contributed to the Saudi ability to continue to engage in actions that are damaging to the US—and in particular their support for ISIS,” Graham told Patrick Cockburn in a 2014 interview. See attachment for proof of Saudi government role in 9/11 conspiracy.

 

Those with financial interest in permanent warfare may not mind this duplicity, especially when it creates an endless supply of insurgents and refugees which, in turn, create even more militarist political movements in the invader countries of the West. Sadly, our military-dominated economy has prevented both parties in Congress from ending this vicious cycle. What will Trump do? The answer to this question may well lie with the resistance of the people.

 

Richard Ochs

Eastern Panhandle Independent Community (EPIC) Radio:EPIC Thursday -- Local Truth with Hound Dog and Abel -- Economics and Social Science -- LIve Music

John Case has sent you a link to a blog:



Blog: Eastern Panhandle Independent Community (EPIC) Radio
Post: EPIC Thursday -- Local Truth with Hound Dog and Abel -- Economics and Social Science -- LIve Music
Link: http://www.enlightenradio.org/2017/03/epic-thursday-local-truth-with-hound.html

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Fwd: A Would Be Fascist Dictator



Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: Stewart Acuff <acuff.stewart@gmail.com>
Date: March 9, 2017 at 4:45:18 AM EST
To: Stewart <acuff.stewart@gmail.com>
Subject: A Would Be Fascist Dictator

A would be fascist dictator is now president

He's singled out groups of Americans to scape goat

With executive orders he has sent

Americans to foreign lands , again kept folks from the vote

Busily destroying the environment

Destroying our public education putting our kids in the boat

Of ignorance and destroying our labor movement.

More money to the military

Working on a budget that has bènt

The Common Good to a common bad re

Nothing for us but a safety net rent

Into strips of fabric torn too easily

By his evil into Americas shell.

Sent from my iPhone

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Eastern Panhandle Independent Community (EPIC) Radio:EPIC Wednesday: Prescription for Addiction, and Resistance

John Case has sent you a link to a blog:



Blog: Eastern Panhandle Independent Community (EPIC) Radio
Post: EPIC Wednesday: Prescription for Addiction, and Resistance
Link: http://www.enlightenradio.org/2017/03/epic-wednesday-prescription-for.html

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